Gringotts Wizarding Bank
Overview Partway down Diagon Alley, near its intersection with Knockturn Alley, stands an imposing snow-white marble building: Gringotts Wizarding Bank. Towering over the other shops, it is the place where British witches and wizards store their money and other valuables, in vaults miles below ground. The vaults are heavily guarded.The centuries-old bank is run by goblins, and they alone know the secrets of the twisting underground passages and the enchantments (and creatures!) in place to defend against intruders. The goblins have a code that forbids them to speak of the bank's secrets, and would consider it "base treachery" to break any part of that code.There was a rumor that Cornelius Fudge was trying to take over Gringotts when he was Minister for Magic; however, as it was published in the Quibbler, it was likely unsubstantiated. After the second war Gringotts was closed for a month for the first time since it opened. Gringotts was eventually taken over by Anna Sophia. Layout Entrance and Main Hall From Diagon Alley, a set of white stairs leads up to a set of burnished bronze doors. The doors are flanked by a goblin in a uniform of scarlet and gold, though during war time the goblin was replaced instead by two wizards with Probity Probes. This is the entrance to Gringotts, and it leads into a small entrance hall and another set of doors. Engraved on these silver doors are the words: Enter, stranger, but take heed Of what awaits the sin of greed, For those who take, but do not earn, Must pay most dearly in their turn. So if you seek beneath our floors A treasure that was never yours, Thief, you have been warned, beware Of finding more than treasure there. Though these doors - again, flanked by goblins - is a vast marble hall with, by Harry's estimation, a hundred or more goblins sitting at counters. Leading off the hall are "too many doors to count," and it is through at least one (and probably more) of these that customers access the vaults. The Gringotts Vaults In contrast to the grand marble of the entryway and the main hall, the passageways to the vaults are stone and dimly lit with flaming torches. They slope down to a track, upon which run little carts controlled by the goblins. These carts take visitors deep beneath the surface of the earth, through a "maze of twisting passages," to the vaults. The carts only go one speed - fast - which makes Hagrid a little queasy and prevents its occupants from getting a good look at their surroundings, and seem to run on a vast, complex, interconnected series of tracks that allow them to move to and between any vaults. The vaults themselves vary in size and security. The largest, most well protected vaults belong to the oldest wizarding families and lie deepest beneath the surface. Those vaults closer to the surface seem to be smaller and have fewer security precautions surrounding them - they use keys, for example, rather than requiring the touch of a goblin to gain access. Security From the time he first learns of Gringotts, Harry hears too the rumor that dragons guard the bank's high-security vaults - a rumor he later confirms himself. However, there are many other security measures on Gringotts vaults as well. Those we know of include: *Goblins flank the entrance to every door. *The vaults are "hundreds of miles underground" in a maze of twisting tunnels and caverns. *The Gringotts carts can only be controlled by goblins and move so rapidly the passengers do not have time to see their surroundings. *Keys are required for lower-security vaults; for higher-security vaults a goblin must touch the door to allow access. If anyone else tried this, "they'd be sucked in the door and trapped in there" . *When thieves break in, The Thief's Downfall is activated - a waterfall that washes away all enchantments and magical concealments, and the carts throw themselves off the tracks. *The dragons guarding the high-security vaults can be controlled only by Clankers, which only the goblins have. *Some vaults have Gemino and Flagrante Curses added to them, meaning that everything a thief touches will burn them and multiply, eventually scalding and crushing them to death. *Objects within Gringotts vaults cannot be summoned. In times of war, additional security precautions are taken: *Wizards with Probity Probes replace the goblins outside the front door, and in the case of Arkie Philpott, a probe was stuck up his... well, never mind. *Warnings are sent to the Gringotts goblins, informing them of wizards who might try to break into specific vaults, wands that have been stolen, etc. *A number of other unknown precautions mean that it takes about five hours for the public to access their vaults, according to Bill Weasley. Current Employees Head/Owner: Lessek the Goblin Curse Breakers: *Cameron Adair *Keiran Sophia Accountants *Seraphina McInnis Former Head/Owner: *Anna Sophia now head of the Department of Mysteries Former Curse Breakers *Adam Turner now deceased *Iris-Marie Cummings now deceased '''Current to Masterlist: '''June 13th 2012 History *Before the second war there was a break in to a vault. *During the second war there was a break in that was far more successful requiring several more confunding charms. Other Credit for information is to the HP-Lexicon. Category:Shops Category:Locations Category:Diagon Alley Category:OMApedia A to Z Category:Census